Chapter 161: The Southern Anchor Town
A familiar golden screen suddenly appeared before Cain.
[World Announcement.]
[The 58st player to successfully advance to the 2nd Echelon has appeared.]
Cain glanced at the ranking name before dismissing it.
Less than half a minute later, another announcement appeared.
Then another.
The notifications continued interrupting their vision as they moved north.
At first, Ron still bothered reading them.
Eventually, even he became annoyed.
"What the hell is going on outside?"
Cain did not answer as he had been wondering the same thing for quite some time.
More than 50 reaching the 2nd Echelon within such a short period was already strange enough.
Now the number continued climbing at a ridiculous pace.
Just as he thought about it, another golden notification appeared.
Cain dismissed it without reading the name as he had more important things to worry about.
Approximately five minutes after leaving the outpost, the terrain ahead finally changed.
Nathan was the first to slow down.
"There."
Cain followed his gaze.
The dark ridges blocking their view gradually separated, revealing a wide stretch of land beyond them.
For the first time since entering the Invasion Corridor, Cain saw something that could no longer be called an outpost.
Buildings covered the terrain ahead.
There were far more structures than anything they had encountered until now, arranged along several broad roads that converged deeper inside the settlement.
A thick wall surrounded most of the outer area.
It was not particularly tall compared to the defensive walls Cain imagined around an actual major city, but it was more than enough to turn the settlement into a fortified position.
Several watchtowers rose above different sections of the wall.
Dark banners hung from their sides, moving faintly despite the lack of normal wind within the Corridor.
Behind the outer defenses stood rows of low buildings constructed from the same dark material they had seen throughout the Zombie Race outposts.
Farther inside, several much larger structures could be seen around a raised central area.
And above all of them...
The gray-black energy column rose into the crimson sky.
Cain’s golden pupils brightened.
"There it is."
The place was far too developed to call an outpost.
It was closer to a small fortified town built entirely around the Southern Spatial Anchor Gate.
Cain could not yet see the Anchor Gate itself clearly from this distance because several buildings blocked the lower section of the central area, but he could already tell where it was located from the dimensional energy continuously pouring upward.
The entire settlement appeared to have been constructed around protecting it.
Roads from the outer wall led inward.
Watchtowers monitored the surrounding approaches.
Several larger defensive structures had been positioned closer to the center.
This was clearly one of the Zombie Race’s important places inside the Invasion Corridor.
Cain’s attention moved toward the closest tower.
One figure stood near its upper edge.
The Zombie Race soldier held a rectangular object against its mouth.
Its lips moved rapidly.
Cain recognized the device immediately.
"They already spotted us." He informed the others.
The zombie inside the tower was already reporting their arrival.
Cain had expected that as their group had been exposed a while ago.
He slowly looked across everyone behind him.
"Prepare yourselves."
The relaxed atmosphere created by the journey disappeared as they drew their weapons, Mana began circulating quietly through several bodies.
Cain’s expression became more serious as he looked toward the fortified settlement again.
"We already know there’s at least one 3rd Echelon somewhere around the Southern Anchor Gate."
They all remembered the information obtained from the captured Zombie Race soldier.
One of their 3rd Echelon commanders had gone toward the Southern Anchor Gate because some kind of problem had occurred there.
Cain still had no idea what kind of problem could force an enemy of that strength to personally come here.
Nor did he know how enormous the difference between the 2nd and 3rd Echelons would be.
Elara and Ron had both become drastically stronger after advancing.
Their Stats had tripled because they entered the 2nd Echelon with Perfected Mana Cores.
If the same kind of reinforcement happened again during another advancement, then a genuine 3rd Echelon enemy could possess physical abilities several times beyond the 2nd Echelon soldiers they had fought until now.
"My attention will be focused on the 3rd Echelon later."
Cain glanced toward Ron and Elara.
"Don’t assume I can save everyone if that bastard is stronger than expected."
Ron tightened his grip on the spear.
"Understood."
Elara nodded quietly.
Cain then opened his own status.
He had been saving the Free Stat Points obtained throughout his recent progression because there had been no urgent reason to distribute them earlier.
Now there was, since a 3rd Echelon enemy was waiting somewhere ahead.
There was no reason to continue delaying anything that could increase his combat power.
His current stats appeared before him.
[Stats]: Strength: 458 (+518) / Agility: 466 (+353) / Physique: 313 (+1,004) / Sense: 262 (+5) / Mana: 610 (+3,050) / Magic: 410 (+2,050)
Cain stared at the numbers.
His first instinct was obviously the Strength and Agility stats as he had been focusing on these two stats.
Both would immediately improve his close-combat ability.
His swordsmanship depended heavily on his physical stats, while enough Agility could become the difference between avoiding an attack and having his body destroyed by an opponent from a higher Echelon.
Cain’s eyes lingered on those two attributes.
Then he dismissed the idea.
His ego wanted him to increase the stats that would allow him to overpower the 3rd Echelon directly in close combat.
That did not mean it was the correct decision as his (Ruin Dragon Force) skill already existed for that purpose.
If Cain needed more physical strength or speed, he could push more True Ruin Energy through his body.
His Divine body could endure an enormous amount of strain before reaching its limits.
But, the Mana and Magic stats were different.
Solar Origin Body increased both of those Stats by five hundred percent.
Every single point placed into Mana effectively provided far more than one point of actual reserve.
Magic received the same treatment.
That meant allocating Free Stat Points into either attribute currently gave Cain considerably more value than investing them somewhere without such a ridiculous multiplier.
More importantly, his strongest options against an unknown 3rd Echelon opponent were no longer limited to his sword.
His Ruin Eruption skill gave him a powerful ranged True Ruin attack.
Inferno Star possessed destructive power that had become absurd after fusing with Solar Origin Body.
And Origin Solar Lance benefited directly from his enormous Mana and Magic.
If the 3rd Echelon commander proved too dangerous to fight at close range, Cain could simply bombard it from a distance until he understood what it was capable of.
He didn’t hesitate anymore as he ordered the system.
"One hundred points into Magic and Fifty points into Mana."
Warm energy spread throughout his body.
The Solar Origin Body talent inside him reacted instantly.
Cain felt his already enormous Mana reserve expand again as another 50 points were multiplied by the effect of his Origin-rank Talent.
The increase to Magic was even more noticeable as the increase this time was a whole 100 points.
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